The Toledo Mud Hens bats' exploded at Fifth Third Field on Sunday night as they defeated the Columbus Clippers, 8-5, in front of a sell-out crowd. The scoring started early as first inning homers by Jerad Head and Danny Dorn got the Hens off to a 3-0 lead.

In today’s Minor Happenings, Tony looks at the very strong season that High-A Carolina third baseman Giovanny Urshela has had and the jump he has made as a prospect. He also touches on the season that Carolina right-handed pitcher Jordan Cooper has had and what it may mean for his future, provides lots of comments from Ross Atkins on some of their rising young Latin American stars, and provides injury updates and more on players like Lars Anderson, Adam Abraham, Carlos Moncrief, Tyler Naquin, and others.t

The Columbus Clippers aren't conceding anything when it comes to the playoffs. The Clippers remained alive in the IL wild-card race with a 4-2 victory Wednesday over the Bats at Louisville Slugger Field, using a pair of unlikely sources to spur the offense and a pitcher-by-committee approach to winning effect.

olumbus saved the best for the last, plating two runs in the top of the ninth as they beat the Bats 2-0 in a tight pitcher's duel at Louisville Slugger Field. Early on, it was a pitcher's duel between Columbus' Eric Berger and Louisville's Todd Redmond.

Indianapolis parlayed a fourteen hit attack into triumph as they beat Columbus 8-4 at Victory Field. The Indians staked themselves to an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first on an Alex Pressley RBI double off of the center field ball. The Clippers would then tie it at 1-1 in the bottom of the third when Juan Diaz scored on a Tim Fedroff RBI groundout to second.

First baseman Russ Canzler fell just a triple short of the cycle going 3-for-4 with two runs and two RBI, while starter T.J. McFarland held the Tribe scoreless over the first five frames and went on to scatter eight hits over 6.2 solid innings to help the Columbus Clippers hold off the Indianapolis Indians 5-3 on Sunday afternoon at Victory Field.

Once again, the Mud Hens put a beating on Columbus pitching, winning decisively 10-3 over the Clippers at Huntington Park. The Mud Hens got off to a fast start as Ryan Rayburn hit a deep two run bomb to left center. Danny Worth added to the Hens advantage with an RBI single to center and just like that Toledo led 3-0 after a half an inning of play.

This week in Minor Happenings, Tony takes a look at the conservative approach used by the Indians with Danny Salazar and why he has been impressive this season, the strides at the plate made by shortstop Ronny Rodriguez and why he has solidified himself as a top prospect, provide quotes from the front office on players at the rookie level Arizona level, and lots of insight and info on other players like T.J. McFarland, Preston Guilmet, Bo Greenwell, Jake Lowery, Aaron Siliga, Hector Rondon and many more.

Tony chimes in with a new edition of the IPI Hot List, a piece that will become a weekly staple next season and ranks the top 20 performances in the Indians' system from the past seven days. In no way does it rank or list players based on value; it is simply a snapshot of the top 20 performances from the past week without any discrimination regarding whether a player is a prospect or not. In this week's list Tony provides insight and updates on players like Cord Phelps, Danny Salazar, Dorssys Paulino, Mitch Brown, Mason Radeke, Rob Nixon, Ronny Rodriguez, David Huff, Anthony Santander, and lots of others.

The Columbus Clippers (68-63) put together a late-game rally on Tuesday night to defeat the Louisville Bats (50-82) by a final score of 10-7. The Clippers trailed 7-5 entering the seventh inning, but they were able to score five unanswered runs across two innings to take the lead and ultimately put the game away.

Everything went right for the Columbus Clippers (67-63) on Monday night as they trounced the Louisville Bats (50-81) by the final score of 10-1. With the victory, the Clippers pulled within 2.5 games of the International League Wild Card. Only the Lehigh Valley IronPigs and the Pawtucket Red Sox sit above them.

Two Clippers that have been a major reason for Columbus' success at the plate this season were responsible for another victory Friday night. Behind the bats of Cord Phelps and Russ Canzler, the Clippers defeated the Durham Bulls, 4-3. Columbus won for the second night in a row after beating the Bulls, 7-1, Thursday. With the win, Columbus splits its four-game set against Durham.

In this week’s second edition of Minor Happenings, Tony takes a look at the outstanding season to date from shortstop Dorssys Paulino and ponders if he should be the Indians #1 rated prospect. In addition to that he runs down a gauntlet of injuries in the system with updates on LeVon Washington, Clayton Cook, Hector Rondon and others, plus a look at Matt LaPorta’s fade, Giovanny Urshela’s improved power, Matt Lawson’s future, the overlooked but impressive debut of Anthony Santander, and lots more!

Columbus had both its pitching and hitting in rhythm Thursday night, and a victory against the Durham Bulls was the end result. The Clippers, after losing the first two games of their series with the Bulls, defeated Durham, 7-1, at Huntington Park Thursday. The Clippers were riding a four-game losing streak heading into Thursday night's contest.

For the first seven innings on Wednesday night, it looked like a sure blowout victory for the Columbus Clippers (64-61). Their starting pitcher was dominating, and their offense was putting on a performance that Huntington Park hadn’t seen in a couple weeks. Then in one inning, the floor fell out from underneath their feet.

In this week’s first edition of Minor Happenings, Tony takes a look at Tyler Sturdevant's return to form, where he is at in his recovery from injury, and his Major League potential in the near future. He also looks at the progress being made by promising young lefty Luis Lugo in Arizona, why Giovanni Soto was shut down, provides lots of comments from Ross Atkins on the trade deadline decision-making process, plus updates and information on players like Matt Langwell, Chun Chen, Ronny Rodriguez, Jose Ramirez, Robbie Aviles, Claudio Bautista, and more.

Available IBI Books

The 2014 Cleveland Indians Baseball Insider book featuring the Indians' Top 100 Prospects and more is now available. Also, previous editions from 2008-2012 are also available at a discounted rate. Just click on the book image for more information. Thanks again for all the support!